Halo of Thorns
by MidDusk
Summary: She had been young and beautiful once but that was before she was taken by demons and forced into sex trafficking. After years of being reduced to fighting for her life every night and being sold to the highest bidder she finally escapes. Teaming up with a certain demon hunter she will stop at nothing until she gets revenge on those who ruined her life. Rating may change.


**So this has been in my head for awhile now and Devil May Cry is my favorite game ever so I thought why not? Just a fair warning I've never really wrote out any action scenes before so hopefully things won't be too bad but other than that I'm really excited to finally post this! I really hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Devil May Cry characters.**

* * *

She was roughly taken from her small steel cell and taken into the prep room to get ready for tonight. She didn't cooperate but she didn't fight them either, she would have to save her strength for the show. She was stripped from the rags that were left of her clothes from the previous night and forced into her new show clothes, a small sparkly bikini top that barely supported her large breasts, tight leather shorts that were practically wedged up her ass since they were so tight, and black knee length leather stiletto boots. Her grayish black hair was brushed and left down, falling straight to her breasts. After her prepping she was taken to the platform that would take her up to the cage, her ankles shackled to keep her from running and the strange sphere like shackle holding her hands was taken off. This is what made her look forward to the night, so that she could vent her anger and stress from everything.

The platform raised and she squinted her amber eyes to avoid the bright lights of the stage from temporary blinding her. She heard the cat calls and wolf whistles but she ignored them and kept a straight face, unwilling to give them any satisfaction. An old fashioned medieval looking sword was dropped from the top of the cage and she easily caught it. She looked around at the typically over crowded club and saw that two of the smaller cages in the oversized room were already being fought in, one in the middle of a fight and the other was just being finished with a poor girl being killed. The other two smaller cages that normally held girl on girl fights were currently empty and was being cleaned of blood from the latest fights. She was in the biggest cage, in the center of the room like she always was. She was the main event of the night, the unfortunate favorite.

"Gentlemen the highlight of the night, our undefeated victor Vixen!" the announcer said.

There were loud cheers as other platforms in the cage began to rise with demons on them. In total there were only thirteen of them, it wasn't a lot of demons considering she could have received a lot more like she had in the past.

"Hey DJ play something nasty, I feel like dancing." Vixen called out, receiving more loud cheers.

The music changed from some random remix to Adrenalize by In This Moment, a song that often played when she was in the cage. She breathed in deeply, keeping her eyes on all the demons around her. She raised her sword as her shackles came off and demons charged at her, starting the massacre. She slashed left and right, trying to make sure that she stayed clear of the demons' claws. Her steps were smooth, graceful almost as she practically danced her way around the cage while fighting for her life. It seemed like she was doing a pretty good job at fighting off the demons, only receiving a few nicks here and there, until one of the demons managed to sneak up behind her while she was occupied. She just barely managed to block the attack in time but she was still sent flying back into the bars from the impact. She ignored the familiar pain and quickly got back on her feet before getting back to work. The crowd cheered as the demon force was lessened, even the dancers had stopped to watch her. By the end of the song she had killed all the demons and was breathing heavily, blood dripping from a few of the wounds she had received during the fight. She enjoyed killing demons, it made her feel better but she hated this next part. The floor of the cage lit up and she yelped loudly as electricity coursed through her body causing her to drop her sword. Her body hit the floor hard from the excruciating pain from being electrocuted and her muscles locked up. As soon as it stopped her body relaxed and some guards came and re-shackled her hands and ankles after kicking her sword out of her reach.

"Another win for the undefeated Vixen! Her bidding will began at 1,000 dollars!" the announcer said.

The bidding started quickly and in no time she was up to 8,000 dollars. The bidding continued until it was up to 30,000 dollars, the most she's ever been bided on, due to the bidding war between two old men. It wasn't uncommon that the bidding price could get really high, most of the men in the crowd were extremely rich but the highest any girl had been bided for was 45,000 dollars and being so close to it really surprised her.

"50 grand!" one of the old men said, causing a quiet murmur to spread through the crowd.

"100 grand!" the other old man bided.

The crowd burst into loud conversation at once. Everyone was shocked, who in their right mind would pay 100 grand for a night with some girl? The other guy quickly gave up and Vixen was taken back down below the cage. Some guards came and unshackled her ankles, escorting her to one of the empty pleasure rooms where her wrists were chained to the bed posts. She put up her extra defenses, she wouldn't give the old geezer any type of satisfaction when he came in and had his way with her. The only emotion to cross her face was surprise when instead of an old man entering the room it was a guy who looked to be around her age with silver white hair.

As soon as the door closed he walked over to the bed, pausing to look at the security camera in the corner before climbing on top of her and straddling her waist between his legs. She didn't move or anything except glare into the stranger's piercing blue eyes. He leaned his head down close her face before giving her a smirk and tilting his face away, his lips softly brushing against her cheek and warm breath tickling her ear.

"As much fun as this could be for us I'm getting you out of here." the guy whispered huskily.

"What?" Vixen deadpanned.

"You heard me, it's your lucky night baby."

"You're not the first guy to say that he'll buy me my freedom after fucking so sorry if I don't believe you."

"Well I never said I was going to buy you did I? I'm going to take out that camera, break your chains, and take out the guards that are patrolling the halls. I'm going to need you to help free the other girls."

"And how the hell do you suggest I do that? All the other girls are either shackled to a bed like me or are locked in a windowless cell made out of reinforced steel. The security is tight and I have no way to defend myself." Vixen hissed.

"You'll take some weapons off of the guards. Do you want to stay here or do you want to help?"

"I want to kill them for what they've done. I'll help you take out the guards and the demons."

"You've got fight in you, I like it." he grinned.

"Are you going to help free me now or what?" she snapped.

"I was just saying."

Vixen was once again surprised when he pulled out a gun from his red coat since security was supposed to check the customers before entering the club for reasons like this. Her eyes widened when he shot the camera down and easily breaking the chain to her left hand by simply giving it a quick tug. Was he really going to free her or was this some kind of sick joke? Before he was able to free her other hand three guards came in but they were quickly shot and killed.

"I've never seen guards share keys before so they must all have a key on them that unlocks all the shackles and a master key to all of the doors so hurry up and search one of them!" Vixen ordered.

"You're really bossy you know." the guy grumbled as he searched the guards.

"Just hurry. God you must really be an old man if you moving this slow." she mumbled.

"Old man? Please I'm not even thirty yet." the guy scoffed.

"Your hair suggest otherwise."

"My hair has always been this color. I could just leave you here if you're going to be like this."

"No! P-please don't leave me here! I'm sorry um–"

"Dante."

"Dante, I'm sorry. I've been here for so long…"

"Relax baby, I have no intentions of leaving you here." Dante smirked as he unlocked the tight shackles and helped her remove them.

"You're an asshole!" Vixen snapped, resisting the urge to punch him.

"I saw that you know how to handle using a sword but how good are you with a gun?" Dante asked, ignoring the asshole comment.

"I can use one if I have too." she answered as she took two guns off of one of the guards.

"Can I count on you not to hold back on the guards that look human because they aren't. They lost their humanity and were turned into something else."

"I wouldn't even if they were human after what they've done. Besides it wouldn't be the first time I killed a person, I've done plenty of that in here."

"Good now let's go."

They slipped out of the room but quickly ran into trouble in the hall. Dante easily handled the guards much to Vixen's annoyance, she wanted to kill them too. She would be damned if she escaped and didn't get to kill any guards or demons in the process.

"They're going to start sending in the demons soon." Vixen commented off handily.

"Let them. Do you know who runs this joint?" Dante asked.

"I'm pretty sure that it's a demon named Raizen owns the chain but a man named Noah is in charge of this branch. I've seen him once or twice, I don't think he's human. He looks like it but he gives off this weird vibe and it's not because he's a creep." Vixen said.

"Do you know how to get to him?" Dante asked.

"Um hello, I'm never allowed out of my cell unless I'm in the cage or one of the pleasure rooms and in case you haven't noticed this place was practically made as a labyrinth so we can't figure our way around if we escape." Vixen said irritated.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to tone down the attitude." Dante huffed.

Vixen stopped and took a shot at Dante who easily moved out of the bullet's way and not just because of her bad aim. Dante turned around to snap at her about wasting time but the words died in his throat when he saw the look of pain in her eyes.

"I'm entitled to have an attitude and until you've been here for as long as I have then I suggest you shut the hell up about it." Vixen growled harshly.

"Sorry I brought it up." Dante mumbled.

Vixen glared at him before shoving past him. She wasn't meaning to be such a bitch but with her freedom almost in her grasp she was a bit on edge and the fact that some guy who had bought her for the night didn't make her feel any better, especially since she had come to hate the male species over the years. Dante stared at her retreating form before following after her and taking the lead again. The girl was an okay fighter but lacked experience with a gun and he wouldn't let that be her downfall. Upon entering the showroom the two were met with a large horde of demons running loose. The fighting cages were bent and broken and fresh blood was splattered on the floor where some of the dancers and the night's customers laid dead.

Vixen didn't wait for an invitation to start firing and Dante followed her lead, smirking at her impatience and determination. They fought alongside each other, making it nearly impossible for Vixen to not notice how much an amazing fighter Dante was. He was so flippant and looked like he wasn't even trying while she on the other hand was beginning to have a hard time keeping up with his pace. She wasn't really experienced with guns, only using them a few times in the past so she was really just pointing and pulling the trigger, making her nervous about messing up. The demon horde was lessened greatly, mainly thanks to Dante, but the demons were still coming and Vixen was sure that she was almost out of ammo. As if sensing her thought her thoughts both guns sounded with empty clicks as she kept pulling the triggers. Frustrated she chunked the guns away from her, one hitting a demon in the back and the other, much to Dante's amusement, hitting a guard in the face. She wasn't sure what she was going to do next until she saw the large weapon display case with her sword in it all the way over on the other side of the room.

"Cover me!" Vixen ordered as she took off towards the display case.

"Whatever." Dante said, covering her anyways.

Getting to the display case was easy with Dante keeping the demons away however it was locked so she had to break the glass with her fist to get what she wanted. Her hand burned as she grabbed her sword and pulled it out just in time to slash a demon that jumped at her in half. She felt so much better with her sword in hand and was glad that it had been put back into the display case after her performance. Seeing that she had things handled Dante quit covering her, wishing that he had Rebellion so he could show her up. With Vixen using her sword they were able to get things done much faster.

"That can't be it. Where are the rest of the guards? I know that there are more demons." Vixen said.

"Probably just scared to come out and play." Dante shrugged.

"Please, they'll do anything to keep this place running. They don't care what happens as long as the problem is taken care of." Vixen said, ripping a shirt off of a dead customer to clean the blood off of her.

"Hey you're hurt, did a demon get you?" Dante asked.

"Just a few scratches and some broken glass to the hand, it'll be fine." Vixen grunted as she pulled a shard of glass from her hand.

Dante watched as she cleaned the blood off of her pale skin revealing the already healing wounds until they were no longer there. There were some scars on her body but they looked like they were there before.

"Your wounds healed." Dante pointed out.

"Yeah they do that, you got a problem with it?" Vixen snapped.

"Depends if you're a demon." Dante said.

"Why are you?" Vixen shot back.

"Maybe I am, maybe I ain't. Sometimes I don't even know what I am." Dante said.

"Jerk, that's not a real answer." Vixen said annoyed.

"Well what about you? You didn't give me an answer either." Dante pointed out.

"I was born human. If you look good and you're a good fighter then they want to make sure you won't die easily and keep up with constant performances and everything. They'll do anything to keep the money coming." Vixen said harshly.

"What exactly do they do here?" Dante asked.

"Aren't we wasting time? Where do we go now?" Vixen asked, ending that conversation.

"Your guess is as good as mine, that door over there leads to the entrance though."

"That leaves that door over that way. The one on the far side has to lead to the control room for the shows and stuff and I doubt it's the one behind the bar."

"Then let's go."

Vixen kicked the door down to reveal a long empty hallway with only three doors at the end, the one at the very end being large and made out of steel. One room turned out to be a large empty office and the other was a large security room with only three guards in it. Vixen quickly killed the guards with her sword while Dante kicked opened the large steel door, much to her surprise.

"You're definitely not human." Vixen murmured.

"Not completely, you got a problem with that?" Dante asked, smirking as he used her own words from before.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Vixen shot back.

"Why would I have a problem with you baby?" Dante smirked.

Vixen glared at him and rammed the hilt of her sword into his stomach, causing his smirk to grow. She shoved into him as she moved past him. Her anger faded into discomfort when she walked into a large deserted laboratory and took a look around at the soiled operating tables, the IVs hooked up with strange mixtures, and all of the surgical/torture equipment. Dante held back a grimace as he gently pushed Vixen along to the door on the other side of the lab, he didn't even want to think about what went on in there. Through that door they went down a staircase that lead them to another steel door and when Dante opened it they saw another large horde of guards and demons protecting what looked like, a submarine? On top of it stood the man Vixen recognized as Noah, his shaggy raven black hair looking more wild than she remembered, and his dark eyes seemed darker as well, almost black with a glowing tint of red. The perfect complexion of his porcelain skin was blemished with large black cracks, giving the appearance that is was going to fall apart and shatter. He was wearing all black with the exception of what looked to be a dirty and bloodied lab coat. Vixen wasn't sure if she had seen him in a lab coat before or not but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that she must have at some point, making her believe that she may have seen him more than she could remember.

"Vixen you've been a very naughty girl. Who's your little friend?" Noah tsked.

"The name is Dante, I take it that you're Noah. Cool toy you're standing on." Dante said sarcastically.

"Thank you, it's going to keep me alive while you all drown. In case you forgot or didn't notice this business is not only underground but also under water. Once I'm inside of this and safe the room will split open and fill with ocean water. And thanks to you kicking down the doors the rest of the place will flood and kill everyone in it." Noah smirked.

"Good going." Vixen hissed.

"Don't worry, that's not going to happen." Dante waved them off.

"You seem very confident that you'll be able to stop me." Noah said.

"With my eyes closed. I wish I would have brought a camera so I could take a picture of your face when I tell you that the money I paid for Vixen here isn't real." Dante smirked, causing the corners of Vixen's lips to twitch upwards.

Noah's face was so priceless that Vixen couldn't keep the smile off of her face and Dante's smirk only grew. For a moment Noah seemed to be in shock over losing so much money before letting out a loud animalistic yell that seemed to shake the very foundation of the place. He lunged after Dante at an inhuman speed who in return started shooting at him with Ebony and Ivory to slow him down and stop him, leaving Vixen with everything else. The fight had started and Vixen tried her best to keep the demons and guards away from Dante while he fought Noah but there were too many of them and she could only take on so many at once without getting killed. Taking a chance she went after a gun from one of the fallen guards but as soon as she reached him a searing pain coursed throughout her left shoulder as she was struck by a demon. She let out a loud yelp, not expecting a demon to be so close to her yet. She heard guns being fired at her which surprised her because she had thought that she had killed all of the guards. The demon behind her fell to the floor twitching and she finished putting it out of its misery. She glance over at Dante who was keeping an eye on her while fighting Noah and had shot the demon for her.

"You okay Vixen?" Dante asked.

"Peachy." Vixen called back, unable to keep her voice from cracking in pain.

As much as it hurt she had to keep fighting. After everything she had been put through here she wouldn't let anything stop her from gaining her freedom, especially when it was right in her grasp. Taking the guard's pistol she tried even harder to keep the demons at bay, not wanting Dante to have to interfere again. He shouldn't have had to save her just then and she was really hating how he was still helping her take out some of the demons while taking on Noah. She was kind of grateful none the less, she would never have gotten this far without his help, hell she would never have escaped in the first place without him! That being said she didn't like how he was showing off.

"You're getting slow." Dante commented when they somehow ended up being back to back.

"Oh fuck off." Vixen snapped.

"Maybe when we're finished here baby." Dante teased suggestively.

Vixen had never taken on so many demons at once before and was beginning to feel exhausted so she was in no mood to put up with being taunted or harassed by an asshole. She turned around quickly, placing her good arm on his shoulder and taking a few shots at Noah in what she hoped was in an intimidating and pissed off manner. She knew she pulled off the pissed off part but she wasn't sure about it coming off as intimidating seeing as she fired five bullets but only landed three hits. Noah wasn't in the least bit fazed and if anything seemed amused by her attempt to harm him. Annoyed she began to pull her arm back when Dante turned his head and let his lips brush against her soft skin. She felt the smirk of his lips on the inside of her arm, offering her mock comfort for her failed attempt at showing off and in return harshly elbowed him in on the other side of his face with her arm when she spun back around.

"Keep your lips to yourself and don't ever do that again." Vixen warned him threateningly.

Despite the tingling his face was feeling from the impact of Vixen's elbow Dante could only smirk and shrug his shoulders before shoving her away to avoid being hit by one of Noah's attacks. He found Noah really annoying more than anything, mainly because it was taking longer than expected to put him down with just Ebony and Ivory and he hated Lady for talking him into leaving Rebellion behind. Granted this was a more delicate job than what he normally liked to work and required more tact than usually put still, Noah was fast and stronger than he looked. But then again so was Dante. Noah had an attack pattern so it was only a matter of time before Dante was able to stop Noah and put him down.

"Need any help on your end baby?" Dante asked once he was sure Noah wasn't going to get back up.

"No I have everything handled!" Vixen snapped as she killed the last demon.

"Well would you like to say any last goodbyes to Noah before I finish him off?" Dante bragged.

Vixen looked over to see Noah's body laying crippled on the ground, his chest rising and falling quickly as he struggled to keep breathing. She slowly made her way over to him; the pain, the fear, and the rage she felt from over the years because of him surfaced and with a vengeful scream she raised her sword to finish him when Dante grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his chest, preventing her from killing Noah. She fought against his hold but no matter how much she struggled and screamed she couldn't escape his strong grip.

"Damn would you chill out? I have a few things to ask him before you kill him." Dante said in annoyance.

"What the hell makes you think that he'll tell you anything!?" Vixen shouted.

"I'm with the bitch on this." Noah laughed weakly before coughing up some blood.

"See!?"

"Look I was hired to find a young girl was kidnapped and supposedly taken here. I went through all kinds of trouble to find and get into this place just to bring her back to her parents only to find out that this shit goes even deeper than we thought so I'm not happy that I'm going to have even more work to do after this. You tell me what I want and need to know and I'll let you die quickly or I'll let Vixen here slowly kill you in the worst way possible." Dante threatened.

Vixen calmed down at hearing that and Dante released her once he was sure that she wasn't going to kill Noah yet. Dante pulled out a picture of the girl he was looking for and showed it to them. Vixen felt her stomach drop when she saw the familiar curly red head girl with forest green eyes and porcelain skin.

"That's Babydoll." Vixen said quietly.

"Her real name is Victoria Chambers and she's nineteen years old. Where is she?" Dante asked.

"Not here. She was a diamond in the rough here so Raizen took her to Central Branch." Noah smirked.

"How do I get there?" Dante asked.

"This is going to be a real kick in the balls, I don't know." Noah laughed before coughing.

"You're lying." Dante glared.

"Nope you see I don't know where any of the other branches are. I'm always in the lab doing all the testing and experiments that Raizen needs me to do to ensure that these whores are in the best condition to make money." Noah bragged.

Vixen glared down at Noah before stomping her foot on him and digging her heel into his chest, causing him to howl in pain. She knelt down close to him with her heel still digging deeper into his chest, grabbed the collar of his lab coat with her free hand, and harshly yanked him up so they were face to face. Noah gasped for air the best he could with the pain he was in and the added pressure on his chest from Vixen's foot and she couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction.

"At least one of you sick bastards has to know where Raizen is. Tell me who or I'll keep digging my heel into your chest until I shove my foot all the way through." Vixen threatened as she applied even more pressure to his chest.

"Cain! His name is Cain!" Noah howled in pain.

"And where is he?" Vixen asked.

"I already told you I don't know! My branch is the lowest, I get all the weak and average girls so I'm not important. These girl's aren't special so Raizen only needs me to further my research to find more sufficient and easier ways to fuse demon blood with the girls so they won't die so easily and will heal faster. They don't tell me anything because they all know my research and methods and could take over themselves, they just want someone to do the hard work for them. So go ahead and kill me, it won't make a difference, you won't find the girl, and you sure as hell won't be able to stop Raizen." Noah said weakly.

"Gladly." Vixen said before slicing his head off with her sword.

"Damn it." Dante mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Now that all this is out of the way are you going to help me free the others? Not that I can't handle the rest on my own or anything but I'm sure that there are other guards keeping watch over them." Vixen said.

"I'll throw you a bone and help so don't worry, I won't be leaving you just yet. Besides I might be able to find out something useful about this Cain guy." Dante said.

He didn't and once the guards were dealt with and the other girls were released Dante led them out through the entrance door, something they all dreamed of doing, and through a large tunnel that led them to an old abandon warehouse in a seaside city and their freedom. After all of the other girls left Dante and Vixen were the only two left in the area, Dante only sticking around because Vixen had yet to leave and he was curious as to why. She had wanted her freedom so badly before but now the girl seemed apprehensive about taking more than two steps away from the club's entrance, as if she thought she was dreaming and would wake up any moment back in her cell. She was taking everything in around her; the warm breeze on her skin, the smell of sea salt in the air, the first rays of a morning sun that she hadn't seen in years. It was all so much to take in at once that it almost made her cry but she was stronger than that, harden by years of suffering. Now that she finally had the freedom she had yearned after for so long what was she going to do with it?

"Will you still look for Babydoll, er Victoria I mean?" Vixen asked.

"That's what I'm being paid for, though not enough now that I know what kind of shit is really going on. This job is going to take so major time out of my schedule to get done." Dante sighed.

"Then let me help you!" Vixen suggested.

"What's a girl like you got to gain from this because I'm sure as hell ain't paying you for it, I'm barely getting paid enough for it as it is." Dante said.

"You don't have to pay me, all I want is the satisfaction of taking these assholes down. Besides I shared a cell with Victoria before she was taken away. She was a good girl, she doesn't deserve what she's going through. She wasn't taken that long ago so if there's a chance that she's still alive then I want to save her." Vixen said.

"Alright then, you got yourself a deal Vixen." Dante agreed.

"Briar, my real name is Briar. Don't ever call me Vixen again." she warned him.

"Well then Briar let's go."

* * *

 **So chapter one is complete! I'm so glad that the first chapter is out of the way, now on to the next! It would be great if you could all do me a huge favor and leave me some reviews telling me what you think, it would really mean a lot if you did!**


End file.
